The fields of the entire Shiqiao Township are lively!

Rhododendrons, prickly pear flowers, locust tree flowers, pear blossoms, plum blossoms, and some wild flowers that cannot be called are red, yellow, and white...... Colorful and full of flowers; In the bushes, in the bamboo forest, in the fields, under the eaves, cuckoos, orioles, flower magpies, small swallows...... Thousands of turns, hundreds of birds contend; Xiejiaba, Jiudaoguai, Yangjiawan, Xinmiaozi, well paddy field, large seedling field, safflower land, tomb mountain land...... Thousands of ditches and thousands of husbands sing with women.

Families are busy planting in the spring: the seedlings have been transplanted from the greenhouse to the thin mud of the paddy fields, pumpkin seeds and loofah seeds are desperately sprouting in the field, farmers are carrying fertile farm manure or dancing bamboo sticks and shouting cattle to plough the oxen, peasant women are waving hoes or throwing ashes from the stove holes, and children are busy collecting pigweed or mowing grass.

Whether it is in the township or in the village, the teachers in the school have to go home to be busy in the spring, and the school naturally has to have a holiday - a special holiday - a busy holiday.

The Shufen brothers and sisters still don't care about building roads. Even Yang Shuzi was planting with a stick, and Fushun, the main laborer, must have to undertake a lot of farm work.

Rice planting is about to take place. Yangjiawan in the rainy season did not enjoy the special blessing, the water of the creek flowed out from the Shihe weir, and before the five groups of Yangjiawan converged into a clear pool, it disappeared, and the fields of every household dried up and weeds grew. It is urgent to find a source of water and then irrigate these paddy fields, otherwise those hungry seedlings will die before they can be transplanted to the paddy fields.

The water source is there, and it is convenient. The industrious and intelligent Yangjiawan people built two big weir ponds on the top of Mao'er Mountain, one is the Shihe weir with a history of more than 100 years, and the other is the people's weir pond that Yang Shuzi broke a leg and built with a group of people a few years ago. The ditch that flows down from the two weir ponds can be extended or indirectly extended to each paddy field in the five groups of Yangjiawan.

The stone river weir is more than ten meters deep and two or three acres large. More than 100 years ago, the people of Yangjiawan took advantage of the geographical advantage of the intersection of Mao'er Mountain and the top of Yantai Mountain to form an inlet, and built a solid weir pond with huge stones, yellow mud and glutinous rice slurry. Shihe weir has a total of 12 water levels, originally each stage has a water outlet, the common people call it "dragon's eye", this stage is almost put to the next stage of "dragon's eye" to open, but because the time is too long, only the "dragon's eye" of the three water levels that are almost to the end can be used, and the others have been blocked to death, and they can't be opened at all.

At this time, if the fields of the fifth group of Yangjiawan Village have not been filled with water due to the spring rains, the young men will make an appointment - go, let the water go!

There are two ways to release water: one is to use a large water pipe to absorb water from the weir pond to the ditch, and the other is to dive to the bottom of the water and use a chisel to open the "dragon's eye". The first method is simple, but it has to be watched by people and have a long enough pipe, otherwise once the water level is sucked up, it will have to start again, and the water level will not be able to be sucked out at all after the water level is too low; The second method is complicated, you need to be able to dive and dive for a longer time, but the water release is fast, the flow is large, and no one needs to watch it. The villagers in the fifth group were more enthusiastic about the second type.

"Which one is going to get a rice field tomorrow? Let's go to Shiheyan to release water," the production captain shouted loudly on the opposite side of Mao'er Mountain, "This afternoon, the laborers of each family will straighten out the ditch, feed the cattle, and prepare the plowshare and rake to release the water tomorrow!" "The joy of collective work lies in the excitement. After repeating a few times, everyone also knew that there was no need to respond, and they each made preparations before "making rice paddy fields".

According to the arrangement of "Yang Abacus", the three Shufen sisters had to cut enough grass on the first day, because the old cattle would have to work in the field tomorrow; Fu Shun and Yang Laosi are going to straighten out the ditch so that the water released tomorrow can flow smoothly into their fields. Because the fields of the four families are all downstream, they must wait until the fields upstream are filled with water, and then flow to their own fields through the fields upstream of Guò.

Of course, the "little man" Fushun also has an important task - to release water!

The first night, Fu Shun didn't sleep well, he was a little excited and a little scared. He likes to go to the Shihe weir in summer to mow the grass, and when the back basket is full, he will jump into the river with his friends to swim and dive, but he has never tried to dive to the bottom of the water more than ten meters deep, not to mention, the weather is gloomy, even if the sun comes out, it is at most about ten degrees. Don't know what's going on underwater? However, the brave Fushun knows that in Yangjiawan, those who can dive under the water of Shihe Weir and open two or three "dragon's eyes" are called real "manhood"!

The Shihe weir was crowded with people early, including young men with hammers and chisels, middle-aged men with ropes and sorghum wine, village women mowing grass with baskets on their backs, big girls waiting to catch fish at the water outlet, and children watching the excitement.

"Little baby, get out of the way, don't go into the weir," the captain's voice was really bright, "Jianwazi, you go back to Lao Tzu!" In the captain's opinion, Yang Zejian is still a little baby.

Fu Shun smiled "hehe" in his heart. His "big enemy" little overlord walked away stupidly under the captain's shouting.

"Oh, rich baby? Your old man insisted on calling you to release the water, didn't you," the captain found this "laborer" sent by Yang Laosi, "Can you stand it?" ”

"Don't have a problem, father-in-law, I've been down this weir pond many times," the captain should be the "grandfather's generation" according to the generation, "I'll be the first to go into the water!" ”

Fushun's "pride" attracted a group of laughter. The gray Yang Zejian and a few friends hid in the bushes, "I see that his turtle son dares to go down," the cheap dog who can't swim is actually envious.

Fu Shun took off his semi-rubber shoes and walked to the weir, looking at the still cold water and the water that had flooded the tenth level, he regretted what he had just said. "That, father-in-law, I'...... I'll take a sip of wine," Fu Shun looked at the captain, "I'm going to tie me up a little tighter!" Fu Shun said as he took half a bottle of sorghum wine and took a few sips, then stripped off to a patched shorts.

The captain patted Fu Shun on the shoulder, "Young man, yes, don't worry, these old men must have stabilized you!" After speaking, he took the rope and tied it firmly on Fushun's armpit.

The two big men and Fushun came to the stairs of the weir pond together. "Wine is strong and intimidating", a few sips of soju really made him fearless. The second uncle, Yang Zefu, handed over the hammer and chisel, and temporarily taught Fushun a lesson: "Shun'er, don't be afraid, you go down the ladder and go down, at the bottom of the end you will see the 'dragon's eye' pasted with cement, you will use the chisel to chisel slowly, once you will definitely not wear it, you feel that you can't stop pulling the rope, we will pull you up, or you will come up yourself!" Remember, don't go down for too long the first time, people can't stand it, take your time, we take turns to change the chisel ......"

"Poof", before the second uncle's words were finished, Fu Shun slammed into the water - it's not that he didn't want to listen, it was too cold to stand there shirtless. The second uncle almost didn't even grab the rope. Fushun did not follow the stone steps along the stone steps to gradually groundwater as the second uncle said, and sank to the bottom of the water in one step. Good fellow, the stagnant water in early spring, the deeper the water becomes, the colder it becomes, this heart-piercing cold makes him dare not open his eyes at all, and before he can discern where the dragon's eye is, the other end of the rope has already dragged him up.

"Quick, wipe your body dry, draped in cotton wool," the second uncle handed over a towel and a quilt, "Shun'er, feel it first, let the adults come first, go over and bake the fire!" "A few villagers lit a pile of firewood by the weir. Fu Shun hadn't come back to his senses yet, and came to the fire tremblingly.

Several experienced "divers" drank a few sips of sorghum wine, dived down the stone steps to the bottom in order, and slowly chiseled the cement on the "dragon's eye" with tools. The "dragon's eye" of the weir pond must be blocked after the water is discharged, otherwise the reservoir will leak. Every year, and so on.

"Shun'er, come here," the captain's father-in-law and the sun's father-in-law popped up together, "take a sip of wine, pour it down, there's still a hammer left, you get it through!" "The captain handed over the heavy responsibility to Fushun.

"Oh!" Fu Shun's whole head was still confused, so he took the chisel and hammer, tied the rope and dived down. He tried to open his eyes, and it turned out that the bottom of the water was not scary, and he went down the stone steps one by one until the last one. He saw what the adults called the dragon's eye - a stone cave with a diameter of about ten centimeters. He took the hammer and held his breath, overcoming the resistance of the bottom of the water, once, twice, three times...... Finally chiseled the last barrier, looking at the whirlpool on the water, the captain smiled and motioned for everyone to pull the rope up.

Before the second uncle could exert their strength, Fu Shun suddenly popped up, took a deep breath, and climbed ashore. He had forgotten about the cold and that he was not wearing clothes, ran to the outlet under the stone weir, watched the water flow "booming" out, squatted down and put a handful into his mouth, and laughed "hehehe".

Not far away, Fushun's adoptive father Yang Zegui watched this scene after scene, turned around, and jolted down the mountain with a cane.